Recently I read an uplifting article about another Mary. Everyone is familiar with Mary, the mother of Jesus and probably Mary Magdalene, who is the only person named in all four gospels who was at the empty tomb on that first Easter Sunday morning. I figure Mary may be the name of more young girls in the world than any other name, since over two billion of earth’s population is Roman Catholic. That said, the article I read introduced me to another Mary, whom I did not know.
This Mary lives in Philadelphia. She is a nun, a member of the Sisters of Mercy, which is a group I don’t know. Sr. Mary grew up in Philadelphia, daughter of two uneducated Irish immigrants. She was exposed early on to the nuns. The Sisters of Mercy are a group of religious women founded in Ireland in 1831. As Sister Mary Scullion finished high school, she decided she wanted to be part of this group of women. She stayed in Philadelphia for college at a Jesuit institution.
It was during those undergraduate days that she began working locally in soup kitchens and there encountered many homeless people. These folks touched her heart and that has become her life’s work. This ministry necessarily involves much work with individuals with mental illness among other things that often accompany being homeless. And of course, during hard economic times and, especially times in a pandemic, the problems with this population are only exacerbated.
It is impressive to read the story of a woman who has been so deeply committed to a ministry like this since the 1970s. Her work emulates one of the earlier saints, Dorothy Day, founder of the Catholic Worker House movement. Of course, Catholics are not the only ones doing this kind of work. I know other Quakers in Philadelphia, for example, who are also working with this population. They may actually know Sr. Mary Scullion!
I learned that Sr. Mary leads the Philadelphia Project HOME, a well-known anti-homelessness organization. I had not realized she was named 2009 Time Magazine 100 most influential people award. Clearly, she is widely recognized in significant ways. I am glad to be learning about her and being inspired by her commitment and staying power. It is a wonderful story of how faith must lead to action. Faith is so much more than a few beliefs and a doctrine or two.
A number of her friends and co-workers were interviewed for the article and they all acknowledged this commitment. The other thing that jumped out in their observation about Sr. Mary was her passion. That makes sense. I don’t know how one would even begin this kind of ministry without a passion for it. And if that passion were to burn out, there would be no way to keep going. Success is never guaranteed in this kind of work. In fact, I remember a line I think attributed to Dorothy Day when asked how she kept going in the face of daunting odds against success. She told the inquirer that she was not called to be successful; she was called to be obedient!
This would all be very nice, if it were not implicating something for all of us. This comes out in these words from Sr. Mary. “In the Project HOME community, we've always understood that homelessness is the canary in the mine. It's the prophetic call to all of us that there's something radically wrong in our society if anybody is living on our streets.” Homelessness is the canary in the mine. I am sure what attracts me to Sr. Mary and her work is what it means not only for her, but for all of us. It really is for all of us. It is not just for Christians or even faith people from other major traditions. It is for all humans and, indeed, for our globe.
Homeless people are not simply lazy bums. That stereotype bears little relationship to the actual reality. They are not folks down on their luck to whom we throw a few bucks to help. They are signs of a big and growing economic divide in our country and world. They are reminders of how poorly we often care for our elderly, sick and folks unlike us. Especially for us who want to affirm some faith perspective, they challenge our view that all humans bear the image of God and deserve the dignity and respect afforded every human being on this planet.
The author of this article offers this contrast which speaks to the issue. “Scullion's passion, warmth and love of people proved to be the perfect antidote to the seemingly cold and affluent office buildings, high-end hotels and condominiums in downtown Philadelphia…” Of course, this is not just a Philadelphia problem. It’s a global problem we see everywhere in this country and abroad.
Just reading her story inspires and challenge me and my own life’s story. I am not going to move to Philadelphia and join her work. There is plenty to do in my own backyard. The basic question is what does my faith call me to do? I am sure Jesus is not ok with me simply affirming a couple doctrines and, maybe, going to church occasionally. Faith should be rooted in love and love is only a word until it is acted out.
I am pretty confident that is what is meant when we affirm that God is love.
Those of us who have read theology or, perhaps, those who are people of faith and are old enough might well recognize this title as a reminder of the late Jewish philosopher and theologian, Martin Buber. I remember reading Buber’s book, I and Thou , when I was in college in the 1960s. It was already a famous book by then. I am not sure I fully understood it, but that would not be the last time I read it. It has been a while since I looked at the book. Buber came up in a conversation with a friend who asked if I had seen the recent article by David Brooks? I had not seen it, but when I was told about it, I knew I would quickly locate and read that piece. I very much like what Brooks decides to write about and what he contributes to societal conversation. I wish more people read him and took him seriously. Brooks’ article focused on the 2016 contentious election. He provocatively suggests, “Read Buber, Not the Polls!” I think Brooks puts
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